ac3 vs. dts

[KvHagedorn]

Well, what I was saying is that hearing is 90% about the physical health of your ears and 10% about the attention you devote to listening. There is almost no need for "training" or "excercising." Any healthy person could notice the difference in sound quality between differing classes of equipment.

[Indiana]

Originally posted by Jammrock
ROFLMAO!!!!!

What if they have a Denon/Yamaha reciever hooked up to B&W speakers using a SP/DIF pass-through as their computer speakers?

It's more a Marantz/Onkyo receiver hooked up to ELAC speakers here...

You don't need the absolutely best hifi equipment to hear the difference - the average 1000$ system will do

Of course you most likely won't be able to get the difference with your $100-200 PC speakers, even (or should I say especially.. ) if they carry a big THX logo.

[gt40]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
Well, what I was saying is that hearing is 90% about the physical health of your ears and 10% about the attention you devote to listening. There is almost no need for "training" or "excercising." Any healthy person could notice the difference in sound quality between differing classes of equipment.

Put your hands up everyone that has walked into a stereo store/electronic store and have instantly realized that a pair of speakers have been out of phase?
I just turn around and walk back out - the salesppl abviously have NO clue.

[KvHagedorn]

Hmm.. ok, I admit it's been some time since I heard a pair of speakers out of phase, so you might have a point there.

[TransformX]

What does speakers out of phaze mean ? Connecting the (+) and (-) in reverse so it sounds crappy ?

[KvHagedorn]

Yes. Especially in the bass, the signals can cancel each other out, and do so in a very non-uniform way.

[az]

Can you only hear this when you have two speakers, and one of them is out of phase, or is it that noticeable even with only one speaker (or both out of phase)? Is it safe to try at home, just to hear how it sounds?

AZ

[KvHagedorn]

Only a pair can be out of phase with each other. When you switch the positive and negative wires on only one (but not the other) of the two speakers, that means that while one speaker is "pushing" the other is "pulling," which results in the discordance we are talking about. If you switched both, things would actually sound fine.

[Wombat]

Being out of phase can be relative though. Yes, having the polarities set opposite is obvious. But any time you're positioned 1/2,3/2,5/2 (etc) wavelengths closer to one speaker than the other, frequencies will cancel out.

[Indiana]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
Yes. Especially in the bass, the signals can cancel each other out, and do so in a very non-uniform way.

Well, anyone connecting speakers who is toally deaf should easily notice this. Out-of-phase speakers give me a certain headache (besides their crappy sound)...